April Unemployment Dips to 10.4%

The San Diego County unemployment rate dropped to 10.4% in April from a revised 11% in March, according to the state Employment Development Department. This compared with 12.3% for California and 9.5 for the U.S. during the same period. Construction jobs were up 0.9% for the month, but down 7.4% from a year earlier. Manufacturing jobs were down 0.2% from March and down 6% from a year ago. Retail jobs were down 0.5% over the month and down 2% from a year earlier. Financial jobs were up 0.1% from March but down 3.7% from 12 months earlier. One big surprise was leisure and hospitality jobs, up 0.7% for the month but down 1.4% over 12 months. Tourism jobs were up 1 percent from March despite continuing weak tourism numbers. Those jobs are down 2.3% over 12 months.

Response to post #1: Those unemployment stats jump around. If more people join the work force, the unemployment rate is likely to go up even if a large number of jobs have been gained. The grim picture that you paint is an accurate one and isn't captured adequately in the stats. Best, Don Bauder